Very common for manufacturers to employ balanced connections at the inputs or outputs of unbalanced circuitry.
Especially seen in pro gear, use of IC or transformer balancing (vs. truly differential balancing: doubling of circuitry and the inherent problems of timing two (hopefully identical)180 degree out of phase signals through a circuit without timing, phase or distortion issues.
When transformer or IC balanced, the only sonic benefit occurs when long IC runs are needed, otherwise stick with single-ended.
Especially seen in pro gear, use of IC or transformer balancing (vs. truly differential balancing: doubling of circuitry and the inherent problems of timing two (hopefully identical)180 degree out of phase signals through a circuit without timing, phase or distortion issues.
When transformer or IC balanced, the only sonic benefit occurs when long IC runs are needed, otherwise stick with single-ended.